Blue light in combination with red light has been shown to be effective in the treatment of acne. It has been proposed that the 2 colours act together synergistically to combine their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory actions.

This paper looks at the handheld unit called the Omnilux clear-U (from Photo Therapeutics). This unit has a flat plane measuring, 60mm x 50mm, consisting of LEDs emitting light at wavelengths of blue light; 415nm (at 40mW/cm2) and red light; 633nm (at 70mw/cm2). The unit allows you to switch between the red and blue modes of operation.

According to the clear-U web site, the LEDs `destroy the bacteria responsible for the inflammation, stimulate healthy tissue growth, decrease inflammation and pore size, and limit oil production in the future’.

Photo Therapeutics Ltd. have recently trademarked the term `OMNILUX clear-U’.

Those doing the trial rated the unit very easy to use and just 2 of them reported mild transient redness after their self-treatments. The treatments consisted of 20 minutes of blue light and 30 minutes of red light, alternating every 2-3 days. The unit was held in contact with the face.

There are now several studies that show that LEDs using blue light alone or in combination with red light can successfully treat rosacea. Previous studies demonstrated the effectiveness of a clinic-based treatment scenario – this paper duplicates the results using a self-administered regime.

Following is a quote from the paper discussing how the LEDs are thought to provide a benefit.

Although the exact mode of action is still to be elucidated it is believed that the effectiveness of phototherapy is brought about by the destruction of P acnes through the mechanism of photodynamic therapy combined with the stimulation of cellular activity by intracellular and intercellular pathways. Red light (633 nm) although less effective at activating coproporphyrin III than blue light, penetrates more deeply into the tissue and importantly has noted anti-inflammatory properties. It has been demonstrated in vitro, that red light has influenced anti-inflammatory cytokines from macrophages and increased the synthesis of fibroblast growth factor from photoactivated cells and low-level laser irradiation within the visible red waveband can produce various beneficial effects such as stimulation of cell proliferation, release of growth factors, collagen deposition, and neovascularization.

These results, although relating more directly to acne, are still promising for rosacea sufferers. The anti-inflammatory actions of low level light therapy are ideal for rosacea lesions as well as acne lesions. This plays well with the theory that rosacea is an inflammatory condition, and breaking the inflammatory pathway is key in achieving relief from symptoms.

The successful treatment of acne still remains problematic. Conventional therapies often prove inconsistent with unacceptable side effects and recurrence rates, leading to patient noncompliance. A thermal phototherapy treatment using a combination of blue light and red light has recently attracted much attention and seems to offer an effective alternative. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of blue light (415 nm) in combination with red light (633 nm) in the reduction of inflammatory lesions on the face of subjects (n=21) with mild to moderate acne vulgaris after a course of 8 20-minute (blue) or 30-minute (red) alternated light treatments, self-administered by a handheld unit over a period of 4 weeks.

Lesion counts progressively reduced throughout the 4-week light therapy period and continued to reduce up to 8 weeks post therapy, with a final average reduction of 69% seen 8 weeks after the treatment course (P>.001). This pattern is similar to previously reported studies.

Note that Photo Therapeutics also sell a similar handheld unit called the OMNILUX new-U which offers red and near infrared treatments in the same unit. Although this is targeted at treating the effects of aging, it may also be useful in treating rosacea.

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7 Reader Comments

i have used the omnilux new-u for one month on the left side of my face and have seen an amazing lift of my left eye area if i ask any one to look at my eyes they emidietly pick up the diference-even my skeptical husband was amazed. my lefy eye lid is higher and my left eye is larger looking in fact my left side of my face hase an over-all more cushioned look-amazing! i am 55 years old and all my friends that see this are amazed

I find the lights very, very bright. Did you actually put the hand held device on your eyelid? The yellow was not so bright, but the red light was very, very bright…Even the eye pads that came with the device did not help much.

Will the red light from the ‘Clear u’ have the same rejuvenating properties as the Omnilux – ‘New u’ devise? Can both products be used together or would the red light from the clear u be duplicating the effects of the new u? Can the Omnilux home devices be used on other parts of the body, i.e. hands and chest?

there is a lot of products in china with Led light theropy, I did some research into Led light and I came up with a really interesting point, before I go on I nearly got caught buying a machine from china for less then half the price of the same size $30,000 machines here, I thought wow this is great, but you know when something is to good to be true, it isnt, I made a phone call to Omnilux and I got on to a paul, without telling him what i was about to do, he mentioned a few things which took me back a step, he said there is alot of Ledlight machines out there but unless you have a right (nm)waves it will not do anything for you, he then went on to tell me that you need to have with the red light a 633nm, that is the only wave that works, I then found out that china can not do 633 they have 640 up, its been driving me crazy, I thought this guy is saying this cause he wants me to buy from him, so I got back to the china man and asked him if his machine has 633 nm, he said no but his engineer could do that for me, i mean really!! so I bought one from myer, $690, also on ebay they have an Omnilux half the price, but in a different box?, how is that possible, anyway just my thoughts, confused

You can buy a red light filter (use for lamps in theatres) in every nm you want, they are about 75 euro each. I think all the rest is just commercial talk, making something cheap extremely expensive, based on the ‘fear’ it might not work or do any harm, but it’s just visible red light. It is not about the machine they build around it for the insane 30.000. Led lights are amazingly cheap.